McMichael
by mesa-boogie
Summary: After the events of her second trip to Allerdale Hall, Edith returned to life in Buffalo and became a known author. Some years pass, when her son is a little older, Edith falls to her feelings for her childhood best friend, Alan McMichael. Now she has a new life... (Follows after 'The Specter of Crimson Peak')


Edith Cushing-Sharpe was a well kept woman. Along with the money from her father's business (which she kept going in his absence), Cushing and Co, Edith was able to live comfortably. She was not rich, not like the king and queen of England, or even the president of the United States, but she was to do. As well with the money that her published books pulled in. As a single mother, she was able to provide a stable environment for her and her son. She played and taught him by day, and worked on her typewriter and stories at night. Sometimes exhausting herself to being sick.

Thomas Cushing-Sharpe was no more than six years old. Most days Edith found him in his small study/play room, entranced by a dictionary or thesaurus. He was adept to learning everything there was to know in world, while expanding his vocabulary. He was a very knowledgable boy for his age and Edith found that he much liked to keep himself entertained by keeping his fingers moving, working on something, anything. He had already put together a model train set that she had bought him for Christmas, assembled every car perfectly and had in up and running within the hour of opening his present.

Edith discovered that his favorite toys were not ones he received from others, not the train, not the tools; but the two stuffed bunny rabbits she had commissioned for him at local shop in town. One she had bought for him before he was born and one after. She had also over heard him having conversations with the rabbits and she just thought he had a highly vivid imagination. She would catch him dressing the rabbits up in doll clothes that she brought home for him from the toy shop.

One night, she decided to ask Thomas about his rabbits and he informed her on what he knew. She took that and information and started to work on children's books and worked with an illustrator to bring the stories to life. Stories about two rabbits.

 _'There once lived bunny rabbits, a brother and a sister, in a large house. It was always cold and lonely; so the siblings traveled in search for a perfect companion to share their large home with...'_

 _'Their names were Thomas and Luci.'_

"Thomas, your bunnies have such...personal names..."

"They are the names that they told me," he stopped playing and looked up at her face of curiosity. "Is it wrong? I don't want to lie about their true names, mama."

"No, it's not wrong, love. It's just...haunting," she whispered as she leaned down and kissed the top of head, his soft black curls of hair. "You have just a vivid imagination, Thomas. You are a very lucky boy."

And so Edith took what Thomas would tell her about his bunnies and turned them into several children's books, illustrated beautifully by a local woman artist, whom she would collaborated with out of her home.

The weather outside that night was frightening. The trees swayed frantically in the whipping wind and the rain beat hard against the window panes of the house. Edith and Thomas were together in her room, where she had built up a fire to keep the room warm. Edith had sent all the servants home hours ago, before it became dark, so they may be with their own families through this storm that beat down on Buffalo.

Thomas sat on her bed, his head was stuffed into an encyclopedia of animals from around the world, when there came a knock down at the front door. Edith sat up straight, as she had started to fall asleep at her writing desk. She removed her gold rimmed writing glasses and looked over at Thomas as she stood up and smooth out her dress.

"I'll go see who is at the front door, just stay here, Thomas," she turned and told her son before she opened her door and went down the flight of stairs. Through the panes of glass, should could make out a figure of a man. She unlocked the first doors and stepped through to unlock the outer door. She was a little shocked to see the man who stood on her doorstep.

"May I come in, Edith?" Alan asked as he took off his hat from his head.

"Yes. Oh Alan, it's drenching wet out. Please, come in before you catch a cold," she fussed as she all but pulled him inside and shut the doors, reengaged the locks. She took his trench coat and hung it on the coat rack, not caring that it was dripping water all over the floor. She watched as he removed his shoes. "Why are you over so late, Alan?"

"Family dinner was not rolling in my direction. My mother brought up politics and...you know how she gets when she gets started..."

"I do," Edith rolled her eyes.

"Where...are your servants?" Alan asked and looked around, shocked that the house was quiet and dark.

"I sent them home before the storm. They deserve to be home with their families. Not here. I can take care of myself and Thomas. Please, come up to my room and you can dry off by the fire. I'm sure some of my father's clothes could fit you," she spoke as she took the stairs and Alan followed a step behind her. She opened the door to her room to find that Thomas had not moved from her bed, but he slid down his book as he watched her return with Alan.

"Evening, Thomas," Alan addressed the young boy.

"Evening, ," Thomas spoke softly in return before he raised his book back up in front of his face, breaking eye contact with Alan.

"Sorry," Edith apologized for her son's behavior. "He's been...so...deep in thought, reading those encyclopedias, page by page. But I am happy that he's learning things about the world without leaving home."

"At least he is learning, even at such a young age. I'm still shocked at how much he can read and comprehend already!"

"He enjoys it," Edith smiled at her son. "It's what he does to keep himself entertained. Books and his bunnies." She cleared off her writing desk before she lead Alan out of her room and down the hall to her father's room, where she slotted the old skeleton key in and opened it. "You'll find fresh clothes in his closet. Take whatever fits you. Oh, and you are welcome to draw yourself a hot bath, Alan. You must be cold from the rain. You deserve to warm up."

"E..."

"My home is your home, ," she gave him a warm smile before she turned and left the room and him to figure out what he wants to wear of her father's old clothing.

Edith had returned to her room and her writing desk after she showed Alan to her father's old room. She heard the pipes rattle in the walls and knew he drew a bath for himself to soak in. He deserved it. She pushed up her glassed on the ridge of her nose.

"Thomas and Luci went on an adventure outside their large home, to a place they had never been before. This scared the siblings, but drove their instinct for adventure..."

"Mama, you're putting too much detail in it," Thomas spoke as he closed his book and set it aside. He snatched up his bunnies while he slid off the bed and to her side. "It's a book for kids, yeh? You can't use grown-up words."

"You are quite right, Thomas," she blushed and looked down at her son. He was as sharp as a tack and knew things before she could even think of them. "Thomas...where are the bunnies heading to?" she inquired for her story.

"They are heading for...here...New York. They are looking for another rabbit. A pretty, young, blonde bunny."

Edith stared at him and her heart pounded in her chest. "Uhh...yes. I'm sorry, Thomas. I will...do better to change the words, tomorrow. Now, it's time for you to go to bed."

"But mama, the storm..."

"Thomas," she turned in her seat as she reached out and cupped his face with her hands. "Thomas, tell me, are you a big boy, or a baby boy?"

"A...big boy," he answered after a minute of two with a blush on his face.

"Then you will sleep in your own room. Go on. I'll be in there in a minute to kiss you good-night."

Thomas was not happy as he left his mother's room and slipped into the room next door. That was his room. He walked over to the window, through the darkness and parted the heavy drapes. Leafless branches smacked against his window, while rain pummeled it and rolled down. Thomas held tighter to his bunnies as he turned away from the window and to his bed. He pulled back the covers and slipped underneath, scissoring his legs to warm up.

He was upset. His mother always allowed him to sleep in her bed when there was a scary storm outside. The two would cuddle and he would feel safe. His mother's demeanor changed when Alan McMichael had shown up. Thomas huffed and frowned, he did not much like Alan for taking his mother's attention away from him.

His otherwise dark room was filled with a warm glow and he turned his head on his pillow to see his mother enter his room with a candle, which she set on the night stand and then sat on the edge of his bed.

"Oh, Thomas, my little miracle boy," she gave him a smile and leaned in to kiss his cheeks, which caused him to blush and wriggle. "You're safe here, Thomas. If...you get really scared...you can come to my room and I'll snuggle you up," she tickled him and he giggled. "Good night, my little darling." At that, she stood up and took the candle light with her as she shut his door.

Thomas laid there in the darkness, listened to the beating rain and the branches against the window, like nails on a chalk board. He hugged his bunnies tighter and rolled on his side, his back towards the window. He sensed the figures in his room, but they did not scare him. One was of a woman in a long dress, her form was dark and misty. The other was a man, who was lighter colour than the woman and had a ghastly bleeding wound from his face that went upward like mist. Thomas knew they were ghosts, but they were not there to harm him. He knew their spirits resided in the stuffed rabbits he carried around everywhere with him.

"Can you believe how he treats him?" the woman's voice was upset as she spoke to the man. "How...a mother...I would have kindly taken you into my bed and kept you feeling safe, Thomas."

He was confused. He did not know if she was speaking to him or to the man spirit.

"Lucille...he's a growing boy. He needs to learn not to depend on his mother for everything. I know he is strong. He doesn't scare easily."

Thomas hid his face into his pillow as the two spirits continued to argue with one another over him. His mind raced and he did not feel tired enough to sleep.

"Enough!" he yelled and the spirits shut their mouths. "Stop...arguing. That's...all you two do..."

"Thomas," the woman spoke and glided over close to him. "We...we are sorry. Yes, you need to sleep. We...will be quiet now and watch over you."

Thomas felt his eyes grow tired after the spirits put an end to their squabbling and he yawned and closed his eyes to sleep.

Edith had cleared her work table and then went to her closet, where she found a suitable nightgown for the dreary night. She changed out of her day clothes and into the silk gown. She had just taken the pins out of her hair when she heard a soft knock at her door and turned to see Alan as he poked his head in. She blushed slightly as she looked down at her wardrobe and then back to him in one of her father's pair of pajamas.

"I...thought it only necessary to pull these on...since it's raining out...it would be best if I spent the night. If...that's alright with you?"

"Oh, yes, McMichael," she gave him a smile and looked him over, with his blond hair combed back. "You can have my bed."

"What? No. No, I'll just go find a guest room," he gawked and was about to leave when Edith tugged on his sleeve and he turned to look at her.

"It's so stormy out and cold. Please, warm me," she whispered as she pulled him back into her room and shut the door. "Please, my bed is already made. All the other guest rooms are sealed off and haven't been tended to in quite some time. So it's my room...or Thomas'."

"I'll sleep here then," he looked to her bed and then to her eyes. "Edith...thank you," he wrapped his arms around her and she did the same in returned as he leaned down and captured her mouth in a heated kiss. She melted against him, it had been some time since she was last kissed like that, last time with with her Thomas Sharpe.

Her hands that rested on his hips, tugged him over to her bed where he laid her down on her back against the warm sheets as he moved over her body. He continued to steal kisses from her lips while doing so. She guided his hands to the hem of her gown. He slipped his hands underneath and smoothly moved them up her form, caressing her supple skin along the way. Up her belly to her breast, where his thumbs flicked over her nipples and she moaned in lust.

"Should we...be doing this?" he asked in but a whisper against her lips.

"Yes," was her only answer, her sultry eyes said it all. Alan pushed her night gown the rest of the way up her body and brought his lips to her dusky pink nipples now. She arched her back and moaned lowly in want of more as he slid his hands back down her sides. "Alan...," she moaned his name so sweetly that she had him aroused.

He ran his eyes over her body, laid out on the bed, her long hair in waves that cascaded over the pillow and formed a halo around her head. Edith was beautiful in his eyes. He moved further onto the bed now as he pushed down the bottoms of the pajamas he was wearing while he lifted up her hips and slowly, tentatively removed her undergarments. Her legs were smooth and white, much like a porcelain doll, and Alan was careful not to break her. He ran his fingers back up her thighs to the junction between her legs and captured her heat with his fingers. She gasped and then bit down on her bottom lip.

With grace, he eased and nestled himself deeply inside of her as she wrapped her legs around his back and her arms around his neck as she pulled him to her for a kiss. Both had gasped at the jolt of ecstasy they both received from their bodies meeting, mingling. He rolled his hips and she cried out in pleasure as she closed her eyes and groaned, biting her bottom lip once more. Alan dipped his head against the side of her neck and began to kiss at her salt sweet skin as he worked himself inside of her and she kept him in place deeply nestled in her core. The two fit together like puzzle pieces.

The storm continued on outside, loudly, though the two could not hear it over their loud love making. Between Edith's moans and groans, her gasps and cries, and moans of his own. As the two drew closer to climaxing.

"Do you hear that, Thomas? That's that whore of a wife of yours."

"Lucille! Shh!"

"I will not 'shh', Thomas. She's in there...doing...we both know what...to that gentleman friend of hers and...her son, your son, is sleeping just on the other side of the wall! It's despicable and impolite! She is no woman of class or proper upbringing!"

Thomas opened his eyes, though they were heavy with sleep, as he heard the spirits arguing with each other once more. As he sat up and tuned out the sound of the storm outside the window, he thought he heard someone crying. He thought he heard someone in pain.

"Mama?" he asked to the darkness, as if it could answer him in return. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and his bare feet touched the cold hardwood floor. He snatched up his bunnies in his arms as the spirits were quiet now and he shuffled over to his door. He slowly opened it and stuck his head out, he could make out light underneath his mother's bedroom door. She was still awake.

Thomas looked around the rest of the house, it was pitch dark. He slipped out of his room and towards his mother's door. The sounds he heard, she sounded in pain. Was Alan doing something mean to his mother? He pushed open the door to see Alan covering his mother. Thomas' fist thought was that he was suffocating her with a pillow or something. He was terrified and could not budge his feet to take him out.

"Mama?" he asked, scared. She peered around Alan, golden eyes wide and her hair a mess. He watched her push Alan aside and pulled down her night gown as she hastily moved off her bed and towards him.

"Baby! What are you doing up? Oh, did you have a bad dream?" she dropped to her knees in front of him and wrapped her arms around him.

"I...heard you crying...pain..."

"No, baby, mama is fine. Mama is perfectly fine," she kissed his cheeks over and over. "Let me take you back to bed, okay, love? Come on, lets return to bed," she stood up and pushed a hand against his back once he was turned around. She signaled with a finger to Alan before she followed Thomas out of the bedroom and back to his room. She turned on a light and he jumped back into his bed with his bunnies.

"Thomas and Luci...they were arguing about you."

"Your bunnies? Baby," Edith sighed as she laid down beside him on his bed, "I told you, mama is fine. Alan and I...were just...playing."

"Playing that hurts?"

"No, it did not hurt," she stroked her fingers through his black curls. "How about I stay here with you until you fall asleep? That sound good? Are you...afraid of the storm?"

"I don't like the sound the branches make against my window," he answered and clutched onto his bunnies tighter.

"Oh. I'll have the landscapers fix that in the morning, they will trim the branches so they won't be scratching against your window anymore."

"Okay," he sighed and snuggled himself up against his mother. "I...don't like Alan...mama. He...comes around and you don't want my attention."

"That's not true, Thomas," she blushed brightly in the dimness or the room.

"Yes, it is. Even...even Thomas and Luci agree. They see what I see," he showed her his bunnies and she kissed them.

"Thomas," she whispered, "you'll understand...all of this...when you are older. Now, baby, close your eyes and fall asleep. I promise that and I will play quieter, as not to wake you. You need your sleep. You're my little genius."

"I am," he yawned widely as he felt his eyes growing tired again. The spirits had remained quiet and his mother stayed with him on the bed until he felt sleep pulled him back under.

"That's my boy," she kissed his forehead before she quietly slipped off his bed.

Edith watched and made sure Thomas had slipped into a deep sleep before she left the bed. Quietly she walked over to the door and shut on the light as she pulled the door close behind her. She took a few steps back to her room and opened the door, found that Alan was still there, sitting on her bed.

"I'm sorry about that," she blushed. "He's just so curious and he...feels like he has to look out for me..."

"I understand, Edith," Alan smiled at her and held out his right hand and she walked over to take it in her own. "He is quite the little gentleman."

"Like his father," she whispered before she sat down beside Alan and rested her head against his shoulder. The two of them remained quiet for some time before Edith tilted her face up to his and he kissed her as he pulled her back on the bed and she curled up against the warmth of his body. Something she deeply missed and she closed her eyes to sleep.

"Thomas."

He turned around and looked at Alan as he fiddled with his tie. Edith had dressed him in his Sunday best, a starch white dress shift, vest, slacks, tie and loafers.

"Look, about last night," Alan spoke as he sank down on one knee in front of Thomas, "I'm sorry to have scared you. Your mother and I..."

"Were playing. I know, she told me."

"Playing...yes," he blushed slightly and looked up to Edith, dressed like a warm ray of sunshine in all gold. "I'll tell you when the time comes. Gentleman to gentleman, though, I promise...swear, never to hurt your mother."

"You better, . For I have many eyes on you."

Alan laughed softly as he stood up and wondered what the young boy meant of that. He walked up to Edith and kissed her on the cheeks. "I have to head into the office. There are many patients with appointments that I have to see to."

"It is your job, Alan. Go on," she gave him a gentle push out the door with a smile on her face. Once Alan pulled his trench coat back on and grabbed his top hat and was out, did Edith turn to look at Thomas. "Well, Thomas?"

"Alan...is okay," he shrugged his shoulders and held tightly to one rabbit, the one he told her is named 'Thomas'.

"Alan...Thomas," she sighed as she knelt down in front of him to look him straight in the eyes. "Thomas," she took his hands in hers, "Alan is going to be around the house more. He'll be here in the evenings and staying with mama."

"Why?" he asked and Edith stared as she saw tears well in the corner of his eyes.

"Why? Thomas, mama is a grown woman, with feelings and...I just...feel lonely without a man around."

"I am a man," Thomas huffed and tried to make himself bigger, causing his mother to laugh softly.

"I know you are," she leaned in and kissed his forehead. "You're my little man and in a different way. You will understand when the time comes." She pushed herself back up and caught her balance as she took to the stairs to her room. Thomas followed quickly after.

"Are you going to write the next part of the story, mama?"

"I believe I should, Thomas," she sunk into her chair and got her papers in order. "What happens next?"

"Well, Thomas and Luci find the blonde bunny living in a large bunny city. Thomas courts her like a gentleman and wins her love. He and his sister then bring her home with them. To the large lonely house. When the blond bunny enters, there is new life in the house."

"I'm...not really liking where this is going. And...you get all this from your...?" she turned and pointed to the rabbit in Thomas' arms.

"Yes. He tells me and Luci tells me. Mama, they...Luci was saying nasty words about you last night with Alan."

"Thomas," she sighed and pushed her hands against her eyes and groaned, thinking he has such a vivid imagination and maybe she should put a break on letting him read the dictionary. She's sure he has come across the words that a boy his age should not know or understand. Sex. "What did she say?"

"She called you a 'whore'."

Edith now stared at Thomas with wide eyes, in horror. That five letter word just came from her son's mouth.

"You are not to repeat that, young man. Do you understand me? Thomas?"

"Yes," he bowed his head and shrank back. She knows he does not like when she raises her voice.

"I'm sorry, Thomas," she apologized as she calmed herself down. "It's just...that's not a word I want you to understand at such a young age. And Luci...needs to learn her manners."

"Mama?"

"Yes?"

"She...Luci, was talking to Thomas...and she said you...are his wife."

Edith was stunned, her heart almost all together stopped as she stared out the window, down onto the dormant rose garden. Wife. Thomas.

"Mama?" Thomas asked after a moment of her silence. "Did I say something wrong again?"

"N...no, baby. No, you did not," she turned to him and pulled him up in her lap as she wrapped her arms tightly around him. "That's what happened to you, Thomas...," she smiled. "I understand now, I see. You...you are here."

"I am," he smiled up at her and she blushed and laughed at her son.

"Oh, mama's just talking to herself, baby."

Tears stung her eyes at the thought of Thomas' spirit in the rabbit that her son held in his arms. Thomas, who watched over them. But then there was 'Luci', as in 'Lucille'. Edith then understood the tall dark female apparition she had been seeing. The story her son had been telling her to write, was her own. Of how the Sharpes came, found her, and took her back to Allerdale. She wondered why they were having her write out the story, as a form of torture? Thomas would not allow that. She moved her son off her lap and shooed him off to play. She knew where the story went. It would have a happy ending. And hers was just continuing with another.

A couple of months had pasted and Thomas took note that Alan was over for dinner every night after he was done with his work in the city. He brought to the house, a tasty treat for Thomas, a sort of bribe to win him over and Thomas would accept it with grabby hands. Cookies, small cakes and pretzels, were his favorites. Alan knew just what to bring Thomas.

He would carefully monitor their new live in guest as he ate dinner with them in the dinning hall and then follow Edith up to her bedroom and spend the night. In the morning he would leave for his work in the heart of the city and Edith would work on her books.

His bunnies, Thomas and Luci, were especially quiet and this worry little Thomas. He sat on his bed with an open book, and yet his attention was focused on the two spirits that stood over at his window.

"You two know something I don't, about mama," he spoke and Lucille turned towards him before she glided over, her boots not touching the floor underneath her wispy form. "There's something different about her. She...has snapped at me a few times, and then becomes very sad and cries. I don't like when mama cries."

"Oh Thomas," Luci spoke and reached out to touch him, but her hand passed through him. "Your mother is changing. She craves love."

"'Love'? But what is 'love'? I love mother. I love her with all my heart. Is that not enough?"

The other spirit, the man, Thomas, then proceeded to stand by Lucille's side and look down on him. "Thomas...your mother is..." Both of the spirits dispersed into the air when his bedroom door was opened and Edith stood there.

"Thomas, come. Lets go outside and get some fresh air. We've been in the house too long," she held out her hand to him and he shut his book and jumped down. He ran over to her and threw his arms around her. "Oh! Thomas, what has gotten into you?"

"I love you, mama!"

"I love you too, Thomas. Where would you like to go?"

"To the park. To have a picnic with you," he looked up at her with a smile.

"Alright, to the park. Pack our things and meet me at the front door."

He drug a bag out of his closet and put in a blanket and a couple small pillows, before he loaded in his bunnies. They went everywhere with Thomas and he never left them at home. He pulled the back on his back and raced down the stairs, where he met up with his mother and the two of them slipped out into the cold sun light. It was spring time and the air was crisp. The two of them walked into the city to the bakery, where they picked up snacks for their picnic in the park.

Thomas spread out their blanket and arranged the pillows and brought out his bunnies as he settled down with his mother and their new snacks.

"Thomas...," his mother began to speak and he looked towards her with wide eyes as he watched her break off a piece of bread from the baguette they bought.

"Why is Alan always over to dinner and spending the night with you?" Thomas cut her off to ask his question and he watched her blush brightly.

"Thomas, is going to be staying with us for now on."

"Why?"

"Because..."

"You need love? Mama, I love you. I give you all my love. Am I not enough for you?" he asked with a whine and she stared at him before she pressed a hand against her head.

"I know you love me, Thomas, and I greatly appreciate it. But...love from a man is different from love from a child."

The two were quiet while they finished their picnic, until Edith became sick. She rushed off and left Thomas sitting by himself on the blanket. His heart raced as he watched her leave quickly.

"Wh...what's wrong with mama?" he quickly asked his bunnies, hoping they could tell him the answer, like even if his mother was going to come back to him.

"Thomas, your mother's sickness is due to change in her body. She is not sick with a flu," Luci answered, but it still left Thomas confused and scared. Minutes passed and Edith returned to him.

"Baby, pack up...we're returning home. Mama is not feeling well."

He nodded his head and packed everything back into his sack and the two of them walked back home together. At times Thomas stopped so his mother could catch back up. When they returned to the mansion, he watched his mother take to the stairs and to her bedroom. He followed her slowly and watched her remove her boots and her heavy dressing before she laid down on her bed in her slip. He set down his bag and climbed up on the bed with her.

"Do you want me to call , mama? Maybe he knows what's wrong with you?"

"Oh, baby," she gave him a smile and pulled him closely against her, kissed the top of his head. "Alan will be home soon. Let mama sleep a little. I'll be better soon."

"I'll stay with you then, until Alan is here to check on you." He stayed by her side, nestled up against her and closed his eyes to go to sleep, a nap.

Edith had not even heard him enter the room. Alan had gotten off of work early and stopped by to see if she was home before he was going to go to a family event. He dropped his things by the door and walked over to her bedside. She heard the floor boards creak under his shoes and slowly opened her tired eyes.

"Hi, Alan," she whispered to him with a smile and hugged Thomas closer to her, her son was still napping beside her on the bed.

"Edith, is there something wrong?" he asked as he sank to his knees to be at her level on the bed. "Are you feeling alright?" He moved a hand up over her forehead and she closed her eyes against the coolness of his skin.

"Alan," she caught his gaze and he stared back at her, "Alan...I think I have the morning sickness."

"Morning sickness...?" he echoed back to her in confusion before she noticed it sank in. "Edith, you're pregnant?" She slowly nodded her head up and down and reached for one of his hands to move over her stomach. "You're...pregnant," he said again.

"Yes, Alan, I believe I am. I'm sure this is no flu. Thomas and I stay on top of taking our vitamins," she smiled at her son sleeping beside her, unaware of the conversation going on between the grown ups.

"Edith...this is good news. This is, very good news," he blushed brightly with a smile on his face and Edith's heart swelled with love. Alan was perfect in every way. "I...I have to tell my mother!"

"N...not yet, Alan," she squeezed his hand tightly in hers. "I've read it is bad luck...to give out the news to others...so early in pregnancy. I might...miscarry."

The two were then silent together and he kissed her on the forehead and then the lips.

"You won't, Edith. You are strong and healthy. But if it is your wish I not share the news with my mother now, I will not. I will abide your wishes."

"Thank you, Alan."

"Are you...going to tell Thomas?" he asked wearily.

"I was hoping to leave that up to you, doctor," she gave him a wink. "I think it would be best if you two, speak man-to-man, about this manner. He might not understand it yet, but the two of you, this will bring you closer together. He...is your son too, Alan. He needs a 'father' figure in his life with...Thomas gone."

"Edith," he sighed, and rested his head down against her hands, "I will speak with Thomas. When he wakes up," he looks over her body to sleeping boy beside her.

"We went on a picnic earlier. Thomas really enjoyed it. I told him we needed to get outside and into the fresh air."

"That sounds nice."

"It was, until I had to leave Thomas," she blushed and broke eye contact with Alan.

"Don't feel sorry about that, Edith. What happened...is natural," he kissed her again with a hand against her cheek and she smiled against his lips. "We are having a baby," he whispered and tears sprung to her eyes.

"We are. Our new life."

"Edith, we should get married."

At that, she sat up and stared at Alan kneeling beside her bed. "Married?"

"Yes. To keep you safe...for the sake our ...child."

"Alan...I...," her heart began to race, so so did her mind.

"You don't have to make commitment to it now, Edith. You should rest right now. I'll come back and check on you later. I have to go to a family get together."

"Go, be with your family, Alan. Thomas and I will be right here when you return."

He stood up and slowly turned away from her and exited the room and the mansion. Edith sighed. She moved Thomas' small hand over her stomach with a smile on her face. She was going to have another child. A playmate for Thomas. She was going to make sure they are going to be a happy family.

Thomas sat in a chair that was too high for him, set beside the fire. Across from him was Alan McMichael, also seated in a chair. Thomas frowned as he kicked his legs, he did not like that he could not touch the floor. He sensed his spirits were behind them, keeping watch over the conversation between man and boy.

"I have something special to discuss with you about your mother, Thomas," he spoke and clasped his hands together in his lap as he leaned forward.

"Yes?" Thomas answered in return, his spirits were quiet, but he could tell that Thomas was anxious.

"Your mother and I, we...," Alan paused as he tried to collect the correct set of words to speak plainly with Thomas. "Thomas, how would you feel about if there was a baby brought into this house?"

"A baby?" Thomas looked at him confused now as he too leaned forward. "A baby...human?"

"Yes, Thomas," Alan laughed softly. "Not a baby animal. A baby human. Small and defenseless. And how would you feel if you were...related...to this baby?" There was a long pause of silence as Thomas actually thought of how he would feel if a baby was brought into his home, if he was blood tied to the baby.

"I...would protect the baby," he answered after a good long five minutes or so. "I would see to the baby, that...they are happy and safe," he smiled, hoping that was the correct answer and that Alan would leave him alone.

"Well, Thomas, you are going to be a big brother."

Silence.

"Your mother is going to have a baby. She's pregnant."

"Preg-nant?" Thomas questioned.

"Yes, Thomas. She has a baby, in her belly."

"Mama doesn't have a baby in her belly," Thomas frowned at Alan for even thinking of something that ridiculous.

"She's going to, Thomas. The baby is growing safely inside of her."

Thomas scooted back in his chair in disgust as he turned his head to look back at his spirits, something Alan could not see. Lucille had her hands up to her mouth as she stared at Alan, and Thomas hid his face with his hands. The spirits were not happy with the news of his mother having a baby?

"Luci," Thomas cried out to her and she dropped her hands and revealed a tight smile.

"Thomas," Alan tried to pull his attention back to him. "Listen, boy, this is very important. As the man of the house, it is your job to keep your mother happy and comfortable. She needs something, you will get it for her. Understand?" Thomas stared back at Alan before he nodded his head up and down, though he did not completely 'understand'. "It is important that your mother feels relaxed. It is going to be a long nine months. Two months are already gone, how many are left, Thomas?"

Alan had caught him off guard, but his mind came back around. "Seven," he answered.

"Good boy," Alan smiled at him. "You can return to whatever play you were doing. Just remember, soon there will be a baby in the house, Thomas."

He slipped down off the chair with his bunnies and ran out of the drawing room, the spirits followed him. He ran up the stairs and almost ran into his mother. She stopped him with her hands.

"Slow down, Thomas, baby."

"Baby," Thomas tilted his head back and looked at her with tears in his eyes. "Why? Who put a baby in your belly, mama? That's...mean..."

"Thomas," she sunk to her knees in her nightgown and hugged him, rubbing his back. "It's not mean. It's...nature. Just like how other creatures have babies. You're going to make a good big brother, I'm sure of it," she kissed his cheeks and he felt a little better. He continued on into his room and shut his door.

"Well, Thomas?" Lucille turned to her brother. "What do you think of Edith now?"

"She's still as beautiful as always. It is...right of her to move on after me. I...moved on after Margret, Pamela and Enola."

"Enola made you soft towards Edith, Thomas."

"You two are weird," Thomas sat on his bed with a book. "I never know what you are talking about."

"It's in the past," the male spirit answered. "Nothing you have to concern yourself with, Thomas. It is good news that your...mother is having a baby. Think, you have something to look after, something to protect. All good boys look after their siblings."

"It will only be half your blood, Thomas, but still your blood," Luci spoke and Thomas nodded his head in return. "Do right by it, Thomas, and there will always be love."

His spirits were right. He was going to look after his mother, of his new baby sibling. He was going to be their protector, knight in shining armor.

"You spoke with him about me being pregnant and having a baby?" Edith asked as she removed her gold rimmed glasses from the bridge of her nose and set her book work aside. She was done for the night when her eyes began to grow tired. The story, hard as she tried, was going a little dark and she thought it best to let it sit for the night. She turned to look at Alan on her bed, shirtless.

"I tried, Edith. He's still too young, you know?"

"He will learn. He learns quickly," she smiled as she stood from her chair and waltz over to her bed to lay beside him. He brought a hand up to her cheek and leaned in and kissed her. She purred happily at his attention to her. "You are one of a kind, . All other women must be envious of me," she grabbed at his hand on her face and moved it down to her belly, where there is a slight bump.

"Heh, if you say so."

"You help people get better eye sight. Women see better, they see you, they might want to steal you away from me."

"That would never happen, Edith. There's only one woman, one girl, who has won my heart over," he grinned at her and her heart fluttered. "Her name is Edith Cushing."

"Me," she whispered and moved in for another one of his kisses. She kept his hand against her stomach as she moved her body over his, looking down on him. She smiled at him looking up at her with such lust. She moved his hands to her hips as she leaned down and kissed him again.

She hiked up her nightgown as she pulled on his pajama bottoms before she settled back down, him buried deeply inside her, filling her. The two fit like a glove. She loved him with all her heart. This joy she was carrying, was proof of their friendship turned relationship.

He pleasured her till Edith felt her insides warm and her heart fluttered quickly like a butterfly caught in a cage. Alan made her feel wanted again, he made her feel like a woman, he made her feel special. This made Edith happy as she fell asleep against his side.

She woke up sick the following morning as she slipped from her bed and ran for the bathroom down the hall. She dug herself back to her room and found Alan still asleep in the bed. She pulled on a bathrobe and walked back to her son's room. She opened his door slowly and entered quietly. She sat on the edge of his bed and reached out with one hand, rested it on his head of black curls. He stirred awake and opened his green eyes to look up at her. He slept with both of his bunnies clutched tightly against him.

"Mama?"

"Yes, baby," she smiled at him. It was hard for her to think that in time her baby would be here. She would would once again be renewed with the joys of an infant.

"What are you doing awake?" he asked as he rubbed at his eyes.

"I couldn't sleep. And I wanted to check on you. I wanted to tell you how much I love you, Thomas."

"I know you do, mama," he yawned widely. "Thomas and Luci are happy for you, for having a baby."

She blushed brightly at the thought of Lucille glad that she is pregnant. Clearly the Sharpe is only glad since the babe is Alan's and not Thomas'.

"Yeh?"

"Yeh," he replied. "Thomas...he's more quiet about it. I don't know if he is happy or not. He's not...that good at expressing his feelings."

"I know what you mean, baby," she leaned down to kiss his forehead. "Is there enough room in your bed for mama to sleep with you?"

"Isn't Alan still here?" Thomas questioned.

"He is. But I don't want to wake him. He's a busy man all day and needs all the sleep he can get. So, can I sleep in your bed?"

"Yes," he answered and pulled back the covers, which she slipped under and pulled him up against her in a hug. The two of them drifted back to sleep. Dreaming of what the future would hold with a new baby on the way.

It was summer time and the sun was out and shone brightly on the Cushing rose garden behind the mansion. It was July. Edith had a lounge chair out in a secluded spot of the garden, to sun bathe. She bared her skin to the sun, her long white legs and her arms and face. While Thomas played in the dirt not too far from her with toys they had bought at the toy store, some he craved himself. A large collection of horses and cowboys.

"Thomas, hunny, time to head back inside. I don't want you to get too sun burned. You know what happens," Edith called to him as she rose to her feet and drew on her silk robe to then cover all her skin and her growing belly. Five months. It confused Thomas, how it grew. Her stomach was like how his was after he had a good meal and was stuff. But then he had to remind himself there was a baby in his mother's belly, along with her stomach, so room was needed.

"Blisters," he answered as he rounded up all his toys into his arms and made sure he didn't leave his bunnies outside. Together the two of them slipped back into the mansion and to the drawing room, where it was cooler. Thomas set down all his toys on the rub.

"You better clean that all up before you head to your room later. I do not want to accidentally step on any of your toys."

He wouldn't want to either. Some were sharply carved out of wood and some were cast of metal. He nodded his head in agreement with his mother. "I will make sure to clean it all up."

"Good boy," she smiled at him as she walked to the book shelf and pulled out a book. "Want me to read you a story, Thomas?"

"Yes!" he replied and made sure his bunnies were in his lap as his mother began to read to him. He was sure Thomas and Lucille would like to be read a story. The spirits were good listeners. Edith pulled out an old leather bound book and returned to her reading chair. She opened the book and licked her finger before she gently turned the frayed page.

"' _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ ' by Lewis Carroll. This was a favorite of mine when I was a little girl," Edith smiled at him and started to read the story out loud. "'Alice was beginning to get very tired or sitting by her sister on the bank, and having nothing to do; once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what was the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?"

So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day mad her very sleepy and stupid), weather the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a white rabbit with pink eyes ran close to her.

There was nothing so _very_ remarkable in that; nor did Alice think if so _very_ much out of the way to hear the Rabbit speak to itself, "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" (When she thought it over afterward, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually _took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket_ , and it looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she never seen a a Rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket or a watch to take out of it, and, burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hold under the hedge.

In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again'."

Thomas was entranced with the story as his mother read it to him. It was filled with fantasy and adventure and odd words he didn't understand (not that he cared much). Edith read him a few chapters before she slipped a ribbon down the page and shut the book.

"We will continue it tomorrow, Thomas. Mama's hungry," she smiled at him and he quickly got to his feet as the two of them poked their heads into the servant's kitchen. No one was around, so the two of them tip-toed to the ice box, where they found a container of iced cream. Together they grabbed spoons and took it back to the dinning room and the two happily scooped the frozen concoction into their mouths as the smiled and giggled at one another.

"Will we still be able to do this after the baby arrives?" Thomas asked as he scooped a little more of the iced cream into his mouth.

"Of course we will, baby, why not?"

"Wouldn't you...want to...not be with me and do stupid things?"

"I love doing stupid things with you, Thomas. Our stupid adventures make me happy, make my day. This baby is not going to change how much fun we have together. I promise you that, Thomas," she smiled at him. "What are you wishing for, Thomas? A brother or a sister?" There was a long pause.

"Either," he looked toward her with bright green eyes. "If it's a boy, my little brother, I would teach him how to play and how to make things with his hands. If it's a girl, my little sister, I will see to that she is never scared. I will watch over and protect her from anything that means her harm," he looked her in the eyes and saw her cheeks flush with colour. "What are you thinking it is, mama?"

"Well," she rubbed a hand over her growing belly, "with how quiet it has been, no kicks of pain, I believe it might be a precious baby girl. A cute little girl for you to protect, Thomas."

"I will," he nodded his head and the two of them closed up the ice creamed and returned it to the kitchen before anyone would notice that it was gone in the first place. While they were walking back to the drawing room, the front door opened and Alan stepped through. He hung his hat up and approached Edith, drew her body against his and kissed her passionately. Thomas blushed at this and it made him a little uncomfortable. Though he did enjoy seeing Alan's love for his mother. He was tender and soft with her. Never once had Thomas heard Alan raise his voice in the house, not to him or Edith. Thomas had finally accept Alan into his family and his spirits did not protest, making the decision even more set in stone.

He was glad to be home early. Work and the amount of patients he saw a day, took a toll on Alan. To come home to the Cushing Manor was something he looked forward to every day. To come home to Edith, his fiancé. He drew her body against his, felt her growing stomach pressed against his own. It sent almost ripples of pleasure throughout his body. He kissed her deeply and drew back to look into her eyes.

"How was your day, Edith?" he asked as she smiled brightly back at him, like the sun.

"Well, Thomas and I spent some time in the sun back out in the rose garden. We came inside not too long ago and I read to Thomas."

"Oh, what did you read to him?" he asked as he looked past her to see Thomas was watching him closely with those sharp green eyes of his.

"' _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ '," Edith replied. "We much like fantasy, don't we, Thomas?" She turned to her son and he nodded his head up and down as he clutched onto his bunnies. Alan wondered when they were last washed, as they seemed to be smudged with dirt. At least, the white one was. The dark grey bunny in a scarlet red dress was immaculately clean. Alan was going to make sure that everything in the house was clean before his child is brought into the world. Edith took his hand and led him into the drawing room and made him sit down. He loosed his tie and pulled it off as he settled into a large back chair. "How was your day, my love?"

"Busy. And I paid a visit to my mother. She was not happy that she doesn't see much of me these days."

"What...else did have to say?" Edith added cautiously. Alan knew how the two were, knew how sharp and mean his mother could be with her words. They were her weapon of choice.

"I told her how I was going to have a child. That left her speechless for some time as she stared at me with an open mouth. I think she is genuinely happy. I am her only son and the oldest child."

"Did you tell her it is me who is having your child?" Edith asked, a hand kept over her growing stomach.

"I hinted that it was you, but I'm not sure it sank in with Mother," Alan trained his eyes on Edith's body language. "Sit, Edith, standing on your feet for so long is not good. Please, relax. I will make sure that Mother behaves around you."

"She'll want to see her...granddaughter..."

"Daughter?" he asked, a bit shocked. "You believe it to be a girl?"

"Yes," Edith smiled once more and rubbed her belly through her silk robe. "So...quiet and timid, no harsh kicks. Different from Thomas. So, I believe it is a sweet baby girl."

"And that's what you want?"

She turned and blinked her eyes at him. "I want either. As long as it is a precious, defenseless little thing I can hold to my breast and comfort." Alan smiled back at her, he loved her use to words. They were colourful and made him feel at ease. "Alan, how do feel if it's a girl and not a boy?"

He blushed slightly at her question. "It would not matter. I'd still love her with all my heart. For she would be a miniature Edith."

Now she was the one blushing at his words as she got up from his chair and moved to sit in his lap, to pleasure him with kisses as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"You know the way into a woman's heart, ," she whispered into his ear. He rested his hands on her thighs, one hand moving up and under the silk robe to the junction between her thighs. She gasped and arched her body against him as he sneakily slipped two fingers inside of her. "Alan!" she gasped again and then grinned before she looked back over her shoulder. Thomas was no where in sight and she heard no servant. She felt naughty, and yet it felt empowering.

He continued to pleasure her as she stayed in his lap, teasingly moving her hips to take his fingers deeper inside of her. He hooked and rubbed against the inside walls, he knew drove women crazy. Edith bit her bottom lip as she looked down at him with a half lidded gaze. She leaned in and kissed him deeply as her body shuddered against his before going limp. He had made her climax and he was proud of it. He wrapped his arms around her, one slipped under her knees, he lifted her up in his arms and took her up the stairs she clung to him. He set her out on her bed as he fiddled with the ties of her robe and parted the two sides. He noticed where the sun had been kissing her body and he did too. He leaned down and kissed her thighs, her belly, and her breast. Her hands snatched out to pull on his belt buckle, unclasping it and he then pushed down his slacks.

He was hard for her. He had thought of her all day at work, at times he was even distracted from what others were saying to him. He had Edith on his mind. She plagued his thoughts and his dreams and he felt he was the luckiest man alive. After all the painful times of watching her, being apart from her, coming back from London only to learn she had fallen for his sister's suitor, to have her marry that crazy Englishman, to be widowed, to have him save her from it all; he finally had Edith Cushing to himself. Topped off, she was pregnant with his child. Child created out of true love, unlike Thomas.

He buried himself deep inside of her body and she enveloped and wrapped him in warmth and love as she hooked her legs behind his back and kept him between her thighs. He began to roll his hips and she moaned in delight as she brought him down for a kiss to have him rub his hands over her belly and up to her swollen breast.

"Edith," he groaned against her open mouth as he felt heat rush through his entire body as she unbutton his shirt with her fingers without looking and then ran her fingers over his skin, over his chest. "I love you. I've always loved you."

"I know," she smiled and looked up into his face as he continued to roll his hips and move her body on her bed. Together the two clung to each other until the two of them climaxed together and collapsed in exhaustion. Edith laid kisses all over his body as he caught his breath and nuzzled herself against his side. He pulled her close as he closed his eyes. The two of them slipped off for a late afternoon nap.

Edith woke when sickness rolled through her body, leaving her sticky with sweat, and she sat up quickly in bed. She looked to her side and took note of Alan, still asleep at her side. She reached out a hand gently brushed her fingers through his golden hair, so drastically different from Thomas'.

"Thomas," she whispered his name as she stepped off the bed and pulled on a gown quickly. She walked to her bureau and looked at herself in the mirror. She picked up her brush and smoothed it over her long golden waves. She paused, stepped back and to the side as she parted her robe to look at how far her pregnant belly stuck out. Good god, she looked like she swallowed a large ball. She recovered herself and slipped out of the room.

The day was gone and evening had fell on the Cushing manor. She could smell dinner cooking and hear her servants as they chatted with one another. She opened the door to her son's room and slipped inside. She found him propped on his bed with a book. He put it down as he watched her enter the room.

"Evening, mama," he addressed her and she gave him a smile. He was ever sweet to her, much like honey. She sat on his bed with him.

"What are you reading?" she asked and leaned over to get a look.

"Sherlock Holmes."

"Oh," she blushed. "You know, Alan has met Sir Arthur Conan Doyle before. He went to one of his lectures. You can ask him all about it yourself."

"He has?" Thomas was shocked as he laid down his book and gawked at her with an open mouth.

"Yes, baby. It was about spirits, ghosts."

"Do you believe in spirits?" he asked as he clutched his bunnies to him.

"Of course I do, love. I've seen spirits. Not all are bad. Some are just around to help. They...helped me learn the Sharpe secret," she whispered the last part.

"There are spirits in my bunnies," he held the two out to her and she laughed softly.

"I don't deny that there are, Thomas. Pray tell, whose spirits are in the bodies of harmless stuffed bunnies?"

"Thomas," he held up the white and brown bunny, the first one she bought him and it was the plainest. "And Lucille. But I call her Luci. She doesn't mind much," he held up the dark grey bunny in a blood red dress that consisted of ruffles and cascades. The names sent shivers through her body and to her belly. It upset the baby and she moved a hand over her stomach to calm the pain. She stayed smiling for her son. "Lucille likes to have tea with me. She gets most talkative then. Mama, she says mean things about you from time to time and I try not to listen. She also doesn't take to Alan. I fear she might harm him. I've seen her with a knife she has stolen from the kitchen."

"Thomas, bunnies don't move like people. Sadly, they do not drink tea or hold knives," she tried to push the insane idea out of her son's head before it were too late.

"But she does," Thomas protested against her. She sighed and pulled him against her, against her belly, which began to ache horribly. She shut her eyes tight and bit her bottom lip through the pain as she held onto her son. "Mama...are you hurting?" he asked as he looked up at her with those haunting green eyes of his.

"A little, baby, it will pass. Here," she took his hand and placed it to her belly. "Feel anything yet?" He frowned as she knew he was focused.

"Slightly," he looked back up at her sadly. "Is the baby hurting you? Why doesn't it come out?"

"Thomas...it is not time yet for the baby. It has to stay in mama's belly for nine months, it has only been five."

"So, four more months."

"Yes, Thomas, four more months. And then the baby will be born and there will be no more pain for mama."

"Four more months and the baby is born. And no more babies," he looked up at her sadly and she stared with with wide eyes and blushed brightly. She had not thought of stopping. She always thought, since she was a girl, of having a large loving family. Yet, here was her son, avid on her not getting pregnant again. After this little one is born, no more for her. She knew he cared deeply for how she felt and he was scared.

"Okay, Thomas," she kissed the top of his head and ran her fingers through his hair. "No more...babies after this one is born. I promise."

Summer was gone. Gone were the days of warm sun and laying out in the rose garden. Fall had settled on Buffalo with vivid colours are the trees changed from green to gold, red, orange. As if they were on fire, before they dropped their leaves to dead ground. Edith stared out her bedroom window to the dead rose garden and wished it were in bloom once more. Yellows, pinks, deep reds and the some rare white. It was November.

Edith felt the time was close as she constantly checked her size in the mirror every morning and Alan would come up behind her, wrap his arms around her and sway with her, as if in a waltz. Which brought back her memories of Sir Thomas Sharpe at the McMichael ball. She would smile and played along with him until he kissed her and left for work in the city, leaving her alone with the servants and her son.

Today felt different to Edith, she woke with pains she could only associate with being constricted by a large snake (though she had no idea how that really felt, but she had an idea). She had told Alan she was fine as they ate breakfast together, gave her a good-bye kiss and left for work.

She sat at her work table, before the typewriter. She was still trying to understand why the letter keys were arranged the way they were, when a shock of pain ran down her spine. She cried out "THOMAS!" Her son quickly came bursting into the room with wide eyes at the sigh of his mother crumpled on the floor. "Thomas," she gasped and he sank down beside her and took her hand in his. "Thomas, wire Alan...tell him to come home...the baby is coming. Be a good boy."

Thomas was shaking from head to toe with fear and she didn't blame him. He was scared for his mother's well being, and to see her like this, must have broke his heart. He helped her back up on her and feet and over to the bed, where she laid back down and tried to breathe. The contractions and pain rolled through her quickly and set her into a panic as she had the urge to push her baby out. She moved as quickly as she could out of the confines of her gown, even with her son in the room. She didn't care, she needed to be free, one with nature.

"Thomas...call...Alan..."

She watched him as he rushed out of the room and heard him barrel down the stairs. All she could do is wait now for her love to return home to her.

He was shaking head to toe as his body seemed to vibrate and he could not calm himself down. He got out a slurry of words to the servants that he needed to call Alan McMichael at his office. They all stared at him and started asking questions about Edith all at once, which overwhelmed Thomas further.

"I need the phone!" he shouted and everyone was quiet before they showed him the phone, how to operate it and the number to dial for Alan McMichael. He picked up the ear piece with a shaking hand and dialed the operator. When the woman's voice came over and into his ear, he spoke into the receiver piece for to be patched in with Alan McMichael's office. It rang and rang until he heard Alan's voice and he was speechless.

"Hello? Hello?"

"Alan," Thomas spoke weakly.

"Thomas? Is that you? Everything alright?"

"No," he cried into the receiver. "Mama is in pain! She told me to call you. The baby is coming."

"I'll be there as quickly as I can. In the mean time, Thomas, I want you to stay are your mother's side. I want you to keep her calm. Stroke her hair or her forehead, just make her as comfortable as possible. I'll be home shortly."

The line went dead and Thomas hung up the ear piece and looked around as the servants stood staring at him.

"Lady Edith is having her baby?"

"What do we do?"

"Oh the miracle of birth! Another baby in the house for lady Edith!"

All the older women began to swoon and Thomas did not understand. He slipped off the stool and ran back up upstairs. He stopped in his room and grabbed his bunnies off his bed before he returned to his mother's side. He crawled up on the bed with her and set his white bunny on her exposed belly.

"Alan will be here as soon as he can, mama. He told me to keep you comfy. Stroke your hair," he ran his fingers through her long golden locks and she smiled at him sweetly.

"Thank you, love," she whispered to him and he could tell she was in deep pain and it hurt his heart to hear her groan and watch her arch her back off the bed. "But you shouldn't watch any of this, Thomas...you're much too young to understand what goes on when a baby is born..."

"But I want to learn," he pleaded with tears in his eyes. He laid his face in her hair and cried into it. Not soon later he heard the door to the room and looked back to see Alan as he stood with his brief case. He dropped it to floor loudly and rushed to Edith's bedside.

"Thomas. Go back to you room now. You did good," he pointed back at the door and he nodded his head. He scooped up his white rabbit, gave his mother one last look before he slipped out, still crying, into his room. He could still hear her, her cries of pain were like nails on a chalk board and it made him cringe. The spirits were in his room with him.

"She's hurting and I can't help her," he cried.

"Thomas...baby," Lucille glided over to him and she wanted to hold and comfort him. "It's natural in childbirth. I too was in horrible pain and there was much blood." Thomas lifted his eyes to her in horror and then wiped his tears away.

"You had a baby?"

"Yes, I did."

"Was it's papa...there? I'm glad Alan is home."

"Yes, his father was there," she lifted her gaze and looked across the room to the male spirit by the window.

"Thomas? Thomas was the baby's papa?" he asked, a little confused. He had learned that the two spirits were siblings. He thought maybe he had heard wrong. There must have been some confusion in translation. There came another scream and a sob. Thomas, moved his hands over his eyes and shut his eyes. "Make it stop! Make it stop! I don't like this..."

"Thomas, son," the male spirit approached him now and he lifted his gaze up. "I will check on your mother for you. I'm sure I can do something for her."

"Please, Thomas," he choked on his tears and then watched as the spirit slipped through the door and out of his room. He looked back to Lucille now.

"Don't worry, baby. Thomas will have this all over in a few seconds."

There was silence, then wails, that was not his mouth. Thomas wiped his tears away and opened his door and peek into his mother's room. He saw the spirit on the bed beside his mother, kissing her on the cheek to calm her. Alan held a bundle in his arms. The sound was coming from the bundle. Thomas approached as quietly as he could and Alan looked back at him, Thomas froze.

"Come, closer Thomas," he smiled and beckoned him to the bedside with his mother, whose face was flushed and pink. He smiled at the spirit for calming his mother enough to easily have the baby. Then curiosity got the best of him and he tried to get a look at the baby in his mother's arms. He climbed up on the bed and peered down on a small pink baby with almost a full head of golden hair. "It's a girl," Alan smiled happily and Thomas looked back at him.

"A girl. I was right," Edith smiled and kissed the infant's head. "A lovely, sweet, precious baby girl. You're a big brother, Thomas," she glanced over at him. "Say 'hello' to you baby sister."

"Hello," he squeaked. He did not understand why she was so small. She snuffled and whined and arched her back, wanting free of being swaddled. She cracked open her eyes and looked up at her mother and then to Thomas. Two different coloured eyes. This hit him in the heart.

"There's something wrong with my baby sister," he pointed and his mother shooshed him.

"It's quite normal for people to be born with two different coloured eyes, Thomas," Alan spoke as he stepped out of the bathroom from washing his hands. "Rare, but it does happen. She's fine. She's perfect." Thomas looked back on his new sister and leaned in to kiss her gently.

"I'll watch over her, forever. She have a name?" he asked his mother.

"I...I don't know," she blushed, not having given it much thought.

"Hazel," Thomas offered happily with a smile. "Hazel Cushing McMichael." Both parents smiled and nodded their heads to the name Thomas picked for his baby sister. A new McMichael was welcomed into the family then.


End file.
